Crumbs from the Scone
“I am still unsubscribing from lots of emails in an email account that I no longer wish to use,” writes Tamara Gielen in a post at BeRelevant!
“While doing so, I’ve come across a couple of practices that make me want to scream.” In truth, she has encountered more than a few worst practices, and her list of rage-inducing issues sounds all too familiar. Here are some of the lowlights:
Making the recipient log in to unsubscribe. “I usually don’t remember my login details, and asking for a password reminder results in more email in my inbox,” explains Gielen.
Using a word other than “unsubscribe” to label the unsubscribe link. Hiding the link behind words that obscure its purpose will only frustrate your subscribers.
Using a miniscule font size legible only with the aid of a magnifying glass. “I wear glasses because I have bad eyesight,” she says. “Don’t remind me of that every time I want to unsubscribe.”
Sending an email to confirm the request. According to Gielen, a simple confirmation at your website will do.
Be considerate when it’s time to say good-bye. A recipient might have benign reasons for unsubscribing—but you’ll have a much harder time winning them back if you make the process more annoying than it has to be.
Source: BeRelevant!
Crumbs from the Scone
When Tropicana unveiled entirely new packaging for its Pure Premium orange juice early this year, the company received an unexpectedly vocal response from a small cadre of customers. According to Stuart Elliot, writing at the New York Times, they didn’t mince words—using adjectives like “ugly” and “stupid,” the unhappy shoppers complained that the new packaging made Tropicana look like a generic store brand.
In an interview with the newspaper, Neil Campbell, president of Tropicana, said, “What we didn’t get was the passion this very loyal small group of consumers have. That wasn’t something that came out in the research.”
Deciding he couldn’t ignore his most loyal customers, nor their emotional bond to the old look, Campbell made a drastic decision. The sleek new design was out; the old packaging, with its evocative image of a straw pressed into an orange, would return. The company even plans to contact everyone who left feedback and explain the changes they can expect.
Campbell provides Marketing Inspiration by treating the strongly negative reaction with equanimity. “I feel it’s the right thing to do, to innovate as a company,” he told the New York Times. “I wouldn’t want to stop innovating as a result of this. At the same time, if consumers are speaking, you have to listen.”
Source: The New York Times.
Crumbs from the Scone
On Friday 2/27/09, Skittles surrendered itself to the Zeitgeist. Visits to Skittles.com led users directly to Wikipedia (later changed to a Twitter search for “skittles,” then to the official Facebook fan page), and attempts to explore the site navigation—little more than a pop-up—guided users elsewhere still: flickr, YouTube, Summize.
The experiment in surrendering the entire brand entirely to users—orchestrated by Agency.com, inspired by Modernista—drove interest in the Skittles brand through the roof! On Monday 3/2/09, “skittles” was mentioned in about 1% of tweets on Twitter.
Boy, does that sound dreamy! A figure like that is fit to make any sane brand want to trade places with Skittles in an instant.
But wait! That’s not the whole story.
Bored with lavish brand love, and eager to exercise their power on a piece of Americana, users on Twitter began badmouthing Skittles late Tuesday afternoon. As expected, all that ill will appeared in freeform across the skittles.com “homepage” (which at the time pointed to a real-time Twitter search for “skittles”). By day’s end, the humbled (and smart!) brand yanked itself out of users’ fickle arms and pointed its homepage to Facebook.
What’s the lesson here? Simple: Don’t be afraid to let users help shape your brand, but remember it is still your brand. As in any healthy relationship, sometimes even prospects need a little pushback.
Be a good brand-parent. Part of maintaining a strong brand identity is knowing when to put your foot down!
Crumbs from the Scone
Are your sales pipelines feeling a bit clogged lately? Well, welcome to the recession, says Scott Gillum in a recent MarketBridge blog post. “With customers delaying and/or postponing decisions altogether, the ol’ pipeline ain’t what it used to be,” he notes. But, lucky for us, he then offers 7 Pipeline Management Tactics to help get B2B sales flowing again. Among his tips:
Apply a layer of BANT. “By qualifying and re-qualifying opportunities based on Budget, Authority, Need and Time, you will get to the bottom line on why leads are not advancing,” Gillum advises. “Reps will say that it’s ‘B,’ but I wouldn’t assume that,” he adds.
Define a lead, and stick to it. “Look, it’s going to be a difficult road, but be honest with yourself on what is truly a lead,” he says. “Leads are defined by meeting a BANT criterion.” Period.
Manage responses. You can still strike it rich here. “So sort the ‘junk,’ and find the diamonds in the rough, pick out the ones who are in the right companies or have the right titles, and work them,” Gillum advises.
Grab customer face time. “It’s during these times that you need to have your reps in front of customers,” he insists. “[T]hey can tell you why [they aren’t buying], when things might loosen, who you need to get to, etc.”
Be proactive. Act on solid B2B sales-management tips like these. You might get those pipelines flowing smoothly again.
Source: MarketBridge.
Crumbs from the Scone
In a post at the MarketingProfs Daily Fix blog, Mack Collier tells the story of Alison Heath, the director of marketing for a small company that received favorable coverage from the Washington Post. “That’s good,” he says. “Unfortunately, [though], commenters were attacking the business, based on the information contained in the article, which implied that the company didn’t provide health insurance to its workers.”
Heath decided to say something. She introduced herself, clarified that the company had offered insurance since 2007 and invited commenters to offer ongoing feedback. According to Collier, her evenhanded response had a dramatic impact on the tone of the conversation. “After Allison’s comment,” he notes, “11 other people commented, and ten of them were positive.”
Here’s what Heath did correctly:
- She politely expressed appreciation for the comments. “Nothing escalates a negative comment into a full-bore flamewar faster than an ‘Oh yeah?!?’ reply from the company,” he notes.
- She gently corrected the incorrect conclusion to which readers had hastily jumped.
- She not only encouraged further input, she offered her email address so readers could send private messages.
“If you are thankful and respectful toward commenters, even those that are attacking your company,” says Collier, “the end result will almost always be a positive experience.”
Source: MarketingProfs.
Crumbs from the Scone
Under normal circumstances, Dylan Boyd believes email copy should be clear and concise. He explains his straightforward rationale in a post at the Email Wars blog: “[I]f I get 500-700 emails a day in my inbox, then I need to know WHO, WHAT, WHY and What’s in it for me. End of story.” But a recent long-form email message from beleaguered automaker Saab exemplifies an exception to Boyd’s rule. When customers become aware of corporate woes and wonder what will come next, he argues, it’s better to talk a bit longer.
The multi-paragraph note signed by Mark McNabb, GM’s premium channel vice president, puts Saab’s uncertain future in perspective by stressing its unconventional history and products—in essence, positioning change as a traditional element of the brand.
McNabb then responds to the basic questions most Saab owners will have: “So what exactly does this all mean?” he asks. “To current Saab owners and loyalists, be assured that all warranties on Saab vehicles remain valid. The warranty for both new and Certified Pre-Owned Saab vehicles are provided by GM and remain intact. GM will support continued availability of parts and service … ”
This clarity impressed Boyd. “When a situation [is] as serious and confusing as a major automotive brand facing challenging times, [with] car owners not sure what to do about it … giving them [this] … approach … works for me,” he says.
Sometimes it’s best to just talk. “[T]here are times when copy and emails in letter format are VERY important,” Boyd concludes.
Source: Email Wars
“I am still unsubscribing from lots of emails in an email account that I no longer wish to use,” writes Tamara Gielen in a post at BeRelevant!
